The UpTake: If you want to practice some armchair psychology on Spiegel, there’s ample evidence in the public record that the young entrepreneur possesses not only the Silicon Valley pedigree, but the kind of ludicrous self-confidence (perhaps shamelessness) to leave $3 billion on the table and feel pretty good about his chances of getting something better.

Even so, who turns down $3 billion? Here are seven things about the 23-year-old Spiegel that we think are worth knowing and may shed some light on his decisions at Snapchat.

Spiegel has always been rich

There’s no getting around it, the Snapchat cofounder has always lived a life of privilege. We actually know a lot about Spiegel’s youth due to the court filings in his parents’ (two Ivy League lawyers) contentious divorce. The documents form the backbone of a lengthy profile in last month’s LA Weekly that is probably the most comprehensive portrait of the Snapchat co-founder.

For example, the LA Weekly piece describes how Spiegel grew up in a $2 million house in the Pacific Palisades of Los Angeles and drove a brand-new 2006 Cadillac Escalade to high school. To Spiegel’s credit, it’s something he readily acknowledges.

He was shaped by his parent’s 2007 divorce

In the LA Weekly profile, Gene Maddaus writes: “The divorce took an emotional toll on Evan. But he also became adept at playing one parent off the other in negotiations, which would resemble his later savvy handling of venture capitalists.”

Alex is a Brooklyn-based freelance journalist. He writes about media entrepreneurs and creatives for Upstart Business Journal.

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